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“ The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one’s own country as a foreign land.” – G.K. Chesterton

Friday, 14 November 2014

Authentic Thai @ Bang Rak Thai, The Entrance (NSW, Australia)

This was our final meal together with my family at The Entrance in New South Wales (Australia), where we'd gone for a weekend trip to celebrate my dad's 70th. Nothing much was planned for this trip, and this dinner at Bang Rak Thai was only decided a couple of hours beforehand. My mum had walked past this restaurant after my younger sister had taken my parents out for lunch, and she said that the proprietor seemed excited at the prospect of hosting a large group for dinner. It was a lovely place, with friendly service, and the kitchen was happy to accommodate all our dietary requests. The food was tasty, with a large variety of dishes available for ordering. The proprietor was a Caucasian, but the food was handled by a Thai chef, affirming the authenticity of the food. The curries, noodles, fried rice and stir-fry dishes come with the choice of seasonal vegetables/tofu, chicken/beef, fish, seafood, roasted duck or a combination, and they are priced accordingly.

One of the restaurant's signature dishes, Gang Phed Ped Yang (AU$18.90) - roast duck in red curry with pineapple, tomato and seasonal vegetables. I love Thai duck curries, and this was no exception:

Kow Pad Sapalud (AU$12.90) - pineapple fried rice with chicken, turmeric, pea, tomato, onion, coriander and cashew nut. We also ordered a nut-free one with a combination of chicken and seafood (AU$14.90), but it appears that I failed to take a photo of it. Both were yummy:

Another of Bang Rak's signature dishes, Pad Thai Soft Shell Cramb (AU$18.90) - stir-fried thin rice noodles with crispy soft-shell crab, egg, tofu, crushed peanuts, bean sprouts and shallots. This is a version of pad thai that all Thai restaurants should do. My son didn't like missing out on noodles (due to the peanuts), so we ordered a Chicken Pad See Ew (stir-fried noodles with sweet soya sauce, egg and bak choy, AU$14.90), and it again appears that I forgot to take a shot of it (I was preoccupied with feeding the baby her dinner):

Som Tum (AU$12) - green papaya salad with chili, palm sugar sauce, carrot, bean, cherry tomatoes, dried shrimp and lime juice topped with cashew nuts. Papaya salad is one of my favourite Thai dishes to order, and this one didn't disappoint. It was a good balance of sweet, sour, salty and spicy:

Good food with no complaints from my family. The proprietor seemed grateful for our patronage, and he explained that the recent bad weather - cold, rainy, and even snowing in some parts of NSW - had negatively affected his business. We were happy to give him some business because the service and food were great!

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Welcome to Expat Gourmand

I'm a Malaysian-born Chinese Australian currently living in the heart of Hong Kong with the hubby, our big boy, big girl and baby girl. I have lived in Australia, Japan (where big boy was born) and Hong Kong (where the girls were born), and I have an obsession with food - hence the name Expat Gourmand. I love cooking AND eating, and am constantly on the lookout for new recipes to try out and great places to eat at. My journal is about my encounters with food - full of recipes I've tried and reviews of restaurants I've eaten at - as well as miscellaneous entries on travelling and life in general.